Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Bagalini family! We are so grateful for the many blessings we have - health, family, friends, jobs, but will be eternally grateful for the priceless gift we received from China this year.

As you can see from the pictures, Dani had a great first Christmas with us. So much so that she fell asleep while she was eating lunch today!

Wishing all our "visitors" a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year.

Chris, Tiffany, Dustin, Dylan and Dani Jade

One of the reasons the Chargers Won

Just one of many reasons the Chargers won again - they have the two cutest fans!

Forever Family - 4 Weeks Today

In the craziness of today, I almost mised that today marks 4 weeks that Dani has been a part of our family and her 15-month birthday. 4 weeks. . . . 1 month. On the one hand 4 weeks feels like a long time yet on the other, 1 month out of the 15 she has been in this world is nothing.
Often times when Dani is asleep in my arms or on our bed I just stare at her in amazement. I can't believe that after waiting 2 years and 9 months that she is really here. It is the same amazement that I used to feel when I looked at the boys. I couldn't believe that Chris and I MADE them and that they grew and came out of my body. I feel the exact same way about Dani, and while not in the physical sense, she did grow in us. With every form we completed, every background check, every doctor visit, every day, week and year that passed, she was growing inside of us. It was my longest pregnancy to date! Seriously, though, both Chris and I had some anxiety and wondered if we would feel the same about our adopted child as we do about our biological and the answer is a resounding YES. I do feel cheated in one way however. Dani is already 15 months old. Pretty soon, she will not be a "baby" but a toddler. It makes me sad when I think of the months that we missed, her first steps, the first time she crawled and sat up on her own. The weeks are flying by and she is getting older, but to us she is only 4 weeks "old."

For Ethel and Shonnel

Roxy watching over her new baby

Hello everyone, I'm hoping I can work on a post this weekend, but to tie you Bagalini fans over until then, here are a few of the recent pictures. Did I mention the girl LOVES her Daddy? Enjoy!

Has It Been a Week Already?

Wow, it is hard to believe we have been home a week today. Sorry it has been so long since my last post. No, we are not still stuck in China. Our trip home was an event that is just now starting to feel like a distant memory. As I mentioned in a previous post we missed our connecting flight in Beijing and had to stay an additional night in China at an airport hotel. I did not cry or lose it when we learned we were going to have to stay an additional night in China, but both Chris and I did almost cry when we arrived at our room in the hotel. Small is an understatement. It was maybe 40 square feet, with 2 twin beds and just enough room to walk in between them and I won’t even tell you about the disgusting bathroom! We literally slept in the room for maybe 5 hours and then decided we would rather be in the airport than that small room so we took the 7am shuttle back to the airport on Friday morning. It was like groundhogs day . . . when we woke up we felt like we had done this before. Oh yah, we had just the day before!

Anyway, we hung out in the Starbucks in the airport (Starbucks makes everything a little better), and walked around looking for “feminine necessities” for me, which apparently they do not have in China or I just was not doing a good impression of “tampon” for the local shop workers. Side note: I have the best husband in the world. While Dani and I napped in the airport Burger King, Chris walked to every store in the airport (it’s a huge airport) determined to find me my “necessities.” He returned an hour later with an array of products, but no tampons. I think I loved him more at that moment than ever before.

We finally boarded our flight at 1:40 pm for a 10 and a half hour flight to San Francisco. We purchased a seat for Dani and upgraded to Economy Plus, which was a great move because the section was empty. Chris had the entire row of the middle section to himself and Dani and I had the window section to ourselves. We were able to spread out and pass Dani back and forth without worrying about bothering any surrounding passengers. Needless to say, Dani did great. She wasn’t able to sleep more than 2 hours because of all of the noises and distractions (she is very nosy) but she also didn’t scream or cry. Once we landed in San Francisco, we sprinted (literally) to the Immigration line as we heard from others in our travel group that it could take up to 4 hours to clear Immigration and we did NOT want to miss another connecting flight. We were the 2nd family in line and cleared Immigration in about 20 minutes. It is at this point that Dani Jade Bagalini is officially a United States Citizen. We really should have taken a picture to mark the occasion but were so exhausted we just weren’t thinking straight.

So now we have a 2 hour wait until our flight departs San Fran for San Diego. It is at this point that our trip became eventful. We think that all of the running, waking up early, not getting a full 2-night’s sleep started to take its toll on Dani. While waiting in the San Fran airport she began to throw-up. No worries, I brought a change of clothes in our carry on so we cleaned her up, changed her clothes and everything was ok. Until that is, she threw-up again. Not having anymore clothes, we cleaned her as best we could, sacrificed a blanket and everything was once again ok. Until she threw-up AGAIN. At this point, we are out of clothes and blankets and are holding her over the airport trash can and sacrificing my North Face fleece. The poor thing was exhausted and uncomfortable and I just don’t think she could take anymore. Unfortunately, midway through our flight to San Diego on our small, very small plane Dani had full-blown, liquid diarrhea. It took both Chris and I crammed into the small bathroom (picture me kneeling behind him, while he is holding Dani over the toilet, because there is not enough room to lay her down and change her, handing him wipes between his legs) to get poor Dani cleaned-up and changed. All three of us were tired, sleep-deprived, jet-lagged, still functioning on China time which was 16 hours ahead and on the verge of a melt-down, when the plane landed in sunny San Diego. The moment we stepped into the airport and saw our boys holding a homemade welcome home sign and my parents, that all disappeared and we were overcome with emotion.

It took almost 3 years, 7 planes and over 12,500 miles, but we finally have our daughter. What started out as a selfish act to add a little girl to our family turned into a journey to add to our family and provide a life and loving home to a little girl who may not otherwise have one. Our little girl was abandoned when she was 2 weeks old at the river bank, found, sent to an orphanage, sent to a foster family and then off to surgery and back to the orphanage. She has endured so much in her 14 months in this world and yet is the most content, easy-going, silly, happy little girl who now resides on the other side of the world. We can’t help but think that someone was watching over her and guiding us as well and everything happened at exactly the moment it was supposed to so that she could become OUR little girl, Dustin and Dylan’s little sister and the Bagalini Family a party of 5.

Happy Thanksgiving

There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home . . . Well, we should be landing in San Diego right now instead we are cramped in a dingey airport hotel in Beijing. To say we are upset is a HUGE understatement! We left our hotel yesterday at 4am but our flight out of Guangzhou was delayed an hour and a half. Despite this we ran - literally with bags and baby to our connecting flight and made it with an hour to spare but the airline would not let us check-in as it closed 20 minutes prior. So we leave today, Friday in China, Thursday in the US, and arrive Friday around 2pm. We keep reminding ourselves of the purpose of this trip and that after almost 3 years we finally have our daughter. What's one more night in China, right?
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

The Pictures Speak For Themselves

Hi everyone, sorry I have not posted lately. As I mentioned before our schedules are extremely busy with completing paperwork, running to the store for supplies and oh yeah – taking care of Dani! It is Friday evening and we departed Zhengzhou at 6:00 a.m this morning for the last leg of our journey, obtaining Dani and the rest of the baby’s Visa’s to enter the U.S. Even though it was a short flight (1 ½ hours), we were scared of how Dani would be on the flight. Needless to say, she was awesome. She didn’t cry as long as Dad was holding her and proceeded to flirt with all of the men sitting around her. We are so happy to be in Guangzhou (pronounced Guan-jo) as it represents the last stop of this journey and we are so ready to be home with Dani and our boys, but also because it is about 25 degrees warmer than Zhengzhou! It is closer to the equator and normally has tropical weather similar to Hawaii. Of course now they are experiencing the coldest winter in 12 years, but it is still tremendously warmer than Beijing and Zhengzhou. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, which is pretty infamous with China adoption. It is on an island called Shamian Island and the architecture of the island is beautiful. It is a very small and quaint little island and very much a “walking” city. It is very touristy, but it is kind of a nice change, and best of all they have a Starbucks within walking distance. We didn’t know where it was but sniffed it out like the coffee addicts we are! Note for Dylan – we are looking for the weirdest thing we can possibly find to bring home to you as you requested!

It is hard to believe that Dani has only been with us for 4 days as it feels like we have had her for weeks. She has gone from only wanting me for the first day and then REALLY only wanting Dad for almost 3 days and today seems to understand that Dad is coming back when he leaves and that I’m not such a bad person after all! Each day she becomes more and more animated and lets her personality be known. She is an extremely easy baby and we truly feel blessed that she is ours. It makes me think that all of that time waiting and the delays we encountered and the paperwork that needed to be done and redone all had a purpose. Our first appointment in Guangzhou was the physical exams and visa photos for the baby’s. Dani was a trooper. They have 3 stations the baby’s have to pass through, Medical/Surgical, ENT, and Height, Weight and Temperature. She did great at the first two stations and only cried at the last when the nurse took her from Chris to get her weight. She is a hefty 21 pounds which is mostly head as she has the tiniest little body! Tomorrow is more paperwork but we do not have to get up early so we are hoping to get a full night’s sleep and our afternoon is free so we are planning on doing some more walking. We purchased a stroller today (only cost 14 USD) and Dani loved it. She of course still wanted to be near Dad as you can see. Well, Dani is bathed, fed and sleeping so Chris and I are going to do the same! Good Night from Guangzhou . . .

Congratulations Dustin on passing your driver's test!!!

Upadate #4

Hi All, here is just a quick update as we have both forgotten how busy a little one keeps you as well as all of the paperwork that needs to be done! We finished all of our paperwork for the Henan province this afternoon and are going on a group shopping trip to Wal-Mart. I have never been so excited to go to a Wal-Mart! Not being able to drink the water makes your daily tasks more cumbersome. It's kinda like camping, but with a baby! Before we head out to Wal-Mart we have to feed Dani, ourselves and try and get her down for a short nap.

The first 24 hours have been wonderful and exhausting at the same time. Dani did not cry when they handed her to me, just stared and analyzed everyone and everything. She let Chris hold her for a little bit, but then cried whenever I tried to hand her over. She woke up about every 3 hours and then threw up and had diarrhea - bad. Our whole room reaked! I was forced to give her a bath because of it and ever since then, she wants nothing to do with me and now only wants Chris. It's pretty funny. She literally has him wrapped around her finger as she walk around pulling him by his finger.

Chris and I can't thank you enough for all of your e-mails and comments on the blog. We look forward to the little free time we have and reading them all. I promise to respond once we are in a bit of a routine. Until then, enjoy the pictures!

Fw: IMG00005.jpg

Sha's here and her lip and cleft were repaired by love without boundaries!

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: tiffany_bagalini@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:01:03
To: Mom Cell<pbostian@rchsd.org>; Dustin<Dbagalini@yahoo.com>; Karen Richard<treehouse22@gmail.com>; <mernib@yahoo.com>; <bajalaurie@yahoo.com>; Kim Ayoub<kayoub@ucsd.edu>
Subject: IMG00005.jpg

Sha's here and her lip and cleft were repaired by love without boundaries!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Sha's here and her lip and cleft were repaired by love without boundaries!

Another Amazing Day in Beijing

Hi everyone. Sorry I am delayed on my posts, but our days have been so jam-packed that it is hard to find the free time to dedicate to writing and we have been so tired by the time we return to our hotel room. Saturday was yet another amazing day in Beijing. As you can see from the photos, we made our way to the Great Wall of China. It is easy to see why it is one of the 7 wonders of the world. To think that it was constructed over 2 and a half thousand years ago is as mind-boggling as the enormity of the structure itself. Despite the chilly 36 degree weather, almost everyone in the group braved the cold and attempted at least a portion of the hike up the wall. Combine the steep incline, cold, wind gusts, ice and snow on the steps, oh yeah and those steps. One step may be 6” inches in height and the very next one nearly 2 feet! Definitely not up to code. Needless to say, it was an aerobic adventure. Most everyone in our group only climbed to the first lookout tower, but Chris, Glen and myself forged on. I made it to the 4th lookout tower and decided that was enough for me and that I would wait there for Chris and Glen to climb the rest of the way (there are 7 towers on the section we climbed) and join them on the decent for safety reasons. I was so afraid I would slip and fall on the ice on the way down. While waiting there, I became increasingly cold and decided that I would continue to walk at a leisurely pace up the wall until I ran into Chris and Glen. Well, I made it to the 5th tower and no Chris or Glen. I continued on and made it to the 6th tower and still no Chris or Glen. I started on my way to the last tower but quickly stopped when I saw that the incline was such that Chris and Glen on their way down, were having to walk sideways, bent over with both hands on the railing. That was enough for me! Oh yeah, and there are gift shops at almost every tower. I couldn’t imagine having to walk up the wall everyday in that cold for work!

Along with our visit to the Great Wall, we stopped at a government owned Jade Factory. We have now learned that “government owned” = expensive! Supposedly, the authenticity and quality at a government owned factory is guaranteed, where it is not at a local store. They had many beautiful items and we learned how to identify real jade from the fakes. Everyone back home would be so proud of me. I have shown great restraint when it comes to shopping. As Beijing is a major city (14 million people) the prices are quite expensive. The 2 families who have adopted from China previously keep a close eye on me and tell me everything I want I will be able to get in Guangzhou for a fraction of what it costs in Beijing.

Along with the Great Wall and the Jade Factory we had another delicious lunch, went to a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, the Olympic Village (saw the bird’s next and water cube) and then to a Chinese acrobatic show that would have had Mr. Milo saying WHAAAAAT! It was amazing the things they did the positions they contorted their bodies into.

We departed Beijing on Sunday morning and took an hour flight to Zengzhou (pronounced zen-jo) which is the capital city of the Henan province. This is where we and the other 4 families will get our babies. When we landed it was a chilly 32 degrees and snowing. They closed the highway due to fog, so we hung out in the airport for about an hour waiting for our adoption agency rep to arrive. Zengzhou, while not nearly as modern as Beijing is still a large city (8 million people). The plan is that we go to the registration official’s office at 9:30am on Monday morning (that is 5:30pm Sunday in SD) where the orphanage directors and possibly the nannies will deliver our babies to us. The foster families will not come as they prohibit interaction between the foster families and adoptive families. We will have a few minutes to ask questions about our new babies and then the directors and nannies will leave. I am unusually calm right now as I type this a mere 4 hours before we get our daughter, but am sure the nerves will kick in shortly. Good bye for now. The next post will be when we have Dani in our arms!

Wow, What a Day!

Wow is all I can say after our adventure yesterday. Thanks to the Ambien, Chris and I got about 6 solid hours of sleep. Despite this, we were still up at around 4am. After futzing around our hotel room for a bit, we headed down for breakfast, which was surprisingly yummy. We were also fortunate enough to Skype with the boys shortly after returning home from school. How awesome that was to see and talk to them from all the way on the other side of the world – and for free! During the night, snow fell and blanketed the city in a beautiful white dusting. It is gorgeous – but cold. I think it was around 32 degrees yesterday. We met our group at 9:30 am and thus ensued an all day trek to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City (which we can see from our hotel window), the government owned silk factory, Hu-Tong village complete with a rickshaw ride, lunch and dinner. The architecture is simply stunning. Chris and I are the youngest in the group yet somehow managed to be the slowest! We were walking aimlessly with our mouths open taking it all in. We have both always been fascinated with architecture and you could spend endless days looking at the details in the Forbidden City. We did not return to our hotel room until after 6pm so needless to say we were beat! I think I mentioned previously that there are 4 other families in our group, 2 of which brought their kids. The kids did amazing for all of the walking we did and Chris and I were so impressed with them. It is impossible to convey the enormity of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The pictures just do not do it justice. Our guide, Sindy is also amazing. She works for a local travel agency and is extremely knowledgeable but also went to school in the U.S. at the University of Washington. Attached are just a few of the pictures we took. Our lunch and dinner were equally impressive. I had been warned that I would not like the food, but Sindy must know the right places, because it has been nothing less than awesome. We had a traditional lunch with various dishes and then a noodle dinner also with assorted dishes and it was all delicious!

Our schedule today is jam-packed. We leave at 8:30 am for the Great Wall, the Jade Factory, lunch, a brief visit to the Olympic Village, a Tea Ceremony and an acrobatic show followed by a traditional dinner of Peking Duck. Whew! I’m tired just typing it all. The good thing is, it keeps our minds off of the wait until we get Dani. We still cannot believe that in 2 short days we get to meet her. Driving around the bus and looking at the various sites, It feels surreal, like a dream and I am scared I am going to wake up. It is also wonderful to have the opportunity to travel with families who have done this before. They are invaluable resource for what to expect with our little one, how to handle it, etc. In one of the returning families, the wife is a social worker who deals with adoption and attachment. I have been asking her hundreds of questions! Well, we better go eat while we can and we are also going to find a Starbucks. We heard there is one not far from our hotel. Thank you all for your comments on the blog and e-mails, they are wonderful and Chris and I so enjoy reading them at the end of our long days.

We Made It! Arrived at our hotel a little while a go. . Cold, snow on the ground, but so happy to be here! On our way to get a quick bite then bed. Love you Dust and Dylan!

Tonight's Post - An Instructional Lesson

We (and by “we” I mean Tiffany) will be posting as often as we can while we are in China. Please follow along as we document each and every leg of our journey and of course the most important part, the day we are handed our daughter. You literally can have a front-row seat, back stage pass, up close and personal view, as we traverse our way through China in an effort to bring our sweet daughter home and become the Bagalini Party of 5!

We would love to get comments while we are in China. . words of encouragement, support and a link to life back home. When you leave a comment on our blog it comes straight to my Blackberry. For those of you less “techy”, today's post will be a little lesson on how to leave a comment on the blog.

1. Go to the bottom of this post to the word “Comment”. Put your mouse on it and click.

2. A box will come up and on the top it will say, "Post a Comment". Click inside the box and type away. Please remember to leave your name at the end of the comment so we will know who you are.

3. After you have typed your comment, below the Comment box click on the drop down box titled “Comment As” and select “Anonymous”, unless you have registered as a “Follower” of our blog. Then click the box marked “Post Comment”.

4. A word verification box will pop up, simply type the words you see and click the box marked “Post Comment” again. Ta Da, you did it! Now go do a practice run and let us know your coming along for the ride!

This is Really Happening!

This will be a short and sweet post as I still have a few things to do before we depart tomorrow, but it has finally hit me that this is really happening! In less than 12 hours we will wake up to depart for the airport, in less than 24 hours we will be on a plane to Beijing, China and in less than a week we get our daughter and will be a family of 5! Crazy! Needless to say, the excitement, anxiety, fear, happiness, etc. are rapidly building. Despite all of this, I want to make sure that I stay present in the moment. This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I want to relax, take it all in and remember it all. I will have to conscientiously make an effort to “go with the flow”, as that is not who I am normally. Despite our happiness that this is finally happening after waiting over 2 ½ years, I am very sad to leave the boys. I know they will be in good hands, but we have never been away from them for more than a couple of days, let alone on the other side of the world.

I have heard that Blogger is blocked in China (so is Facebook) so I will e-mail my posts and pictures to Dustin who will then upload them to the Blog. There may be a day or two lag because of this and after we get Dani, I anticipate not havening a lot of free time to devote to blogging, but I will do my best. Thank you to everyone for your love, support and kind words. They mean so much to both Chris and I and we are forever grateful.

Travel Itinerary

It has been a crazy 48 hours around here and without going into too much detail we were almost not able to travel due to a paperwork snafu thanks to the San Diego Immigration office. BUT - the problem has been corrected and we now have tickets and a confirmed final itinerary! Here's what it looks like . . .

Wednesday, November 11th:
Depart San Diego for Beijing

Thursday, November 12th:
Arrive in Beijing

Friday, November 13th:
Tour Beijing

Saturday, November 14th:
Tour Beijing

Sunday, November 15th:
Depart Beijing for Zhengzhou

Monday, November 16th:
DANI DAY! We meet and take Dani home with us

Tuesday, November 17th:
Adoption Registration Paperwork

Wednesday, November 18th:
Free Day

Thursday, Novmber 19th:
Free Day

Friday, November 20th:
Depart Zhengzhou for Guangzhou

Saturday, November 21st:
Physical and Photo for US Visa

Sunday, November 22nd:
Free Day

Monday, November 23rd:
US Consulate Appointment

Tuesday, November 24th:
Take Oath at US Consulate

Wednesday, November 25th:
Pick up Dani's Travel Visa

Thursday, November 26th:
Depart and Arrive Home!

I can't belive after waiting 2 years and 9 months that we will be in China in 4 days and will get to meet our daughter in less than 10 days! It is truly overwhelming!

On a completely different note, we had visit today with some dear friends of ours who just had a baby girl 3 months ago. It was wonderful to see them and their new beautiful little girl! We are so happy for them and can't wait till our little girl is here and we are able to visit again. Well, I'm pooped. Dylan and I are going to watch Tranformers 2. Good Night All. Good Night Dani, Mommy and Daddy will be there soon!

TRAVEL APPROVAL!

That's us doing the Happy Dance.
Yep, our Travel Approval (TA) arrived today! Our agency has faxed it to the US Consulate in Guangzhou China and once our appointment is confirmed we can purchase our airplane tickets!!! They requested an appointment on November 23rd which would mean we depart the US November 11th and return on November 26th. . . Happy Thanksgiving! The next post will be our confirmed itinerary . . . .Dani, Mommy and Daddy will be there soon!

I See Bubbles!

While we STILL have not received our travel approval, our agency called us this morning to let us know that they "believe" our travel approval will arrive next week and in preparation for that have 2 travel scenarios that they would like to run by us.

First question "do you have any plans in the next month that would prevent you from traveling?" Uh - no, our entire life is on hold for this!

Plan A: Depart for China on November 11th
Consulate Appointment on November 23rd
Return home November 26th (Happy Thanksgiving!)

Plan B: Depart for China on November 18th
Consulate Appointment on December 1st
Return home December 4th

Regardless of which of the above dates we depart, we could very well be in China and have Dani with us in 2-3 weeks! Did you hear that? That was me screaming with excitement! Stay tuned for the final travel dates, which hopefully we will know by next week. Oh I hope I didn't just jinx us!!!!!

It's Past my Due Date and Time to Induce!

Now that I have no no Bridal Shower to prepare for, no wedding to distract me, no 16th Birthday party to plan, no cousins to play with, I am once again faced with time on my hands and the anxiety over when we will receive our Travel Approval (TA) is all consuming! This part of the wait is so much more difficult than the previous years now that we have a face, a baby, an actual daughter waiting for us. Granted, she does not know we are coming, but we do, and we can't wait to see her in person, hold her, smell her and show her pictures of her family waiting back home to welcome her.

As I was driving to work this morning, hoping that the TA would have miraculously arrived during my long 10 minute commute to work and if not, wondering if our adoption agency would be mad if I sent them yet another e-mail, asking if they heard of anything, it reminded me of the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy with Dylan. . . I was placed on bed rest and given medication in my 5th month to deter the pre-term labor that I started to have. Fast forward to the 9th month of my pregnancy and 2 weeks prior to my due date, my doctor took me off bed rest and the medication and said get ready, you will probably go into labor within the next 48 hours. Ready I was - bag was packed, room was ready, neighbors were on alert to come and watch Dustin, should I go into labor in the middle of the night, parents were ready and best of all, I would give birth and have Dylan just in time to make our annual trek to Palm Springs with the "Tripoli Group."

Forty-eight hours came and went and no baby. Seventy-two hours came and went and no baby. Ninety-six hours came and went and no baby. You get the point right? An entire week passed and NO baby! Monday I went to my doctor's appointment and begged, cried, pleaded for him to induce me. He promised that I would go into labor "any day" however; IF, I did not go into labor before then, that he would induce me on Friday (my due date). That was not acceptable! Didn't he know I had plans? Didn't he know that we were leaving for Palm Springs on Friday? I had to have this baby before then so that we could be with the rest of the group by the pool relaxing as we had for 15+ years before. Thus started my quest to induce labor myself. I drank caster oil and orange juice, which only made me throw up, but no labor. I went for very long walks around our neighborhood in the Temecula heat, but no labor. I went to see a movie with Dustin and ate every possible thing I could get my hands on, but still no labor. Chris and I had uh, well you know, AND STILL NO LABOR! So despite all of my efforts, I was induced on Friday and gave birth to Dylan at 1:00 p.m. 24 hours later we were in Palm Springs!

So I figure right now I am in the same predicament as before . . .final days of this adoption pregnancy, it is almost over and literally, any day now could receive our TA and be on a plane to China to "give birth" to our daughter. Until then, I'll have a glass of wine, take the dogs for walks, maybe go see Where the Wild Things Are and have uh, well you get the picture!

Happy Birthday to our 1st Born Baby!

Today was a day filled with mixed emotions. It is our oldest son's 16th Birthday and I can hardly believe that he is actually 16 and can legally drive a car! When I reflect on the years leading up to this day, it seems like just yesterday he was a little boy running around with us, fishing with his Dad, graduating from elementary school and then on his way to middle school. Now, he is 6'2", a Sophomore in high school with a girlfriend and though he does not know this yet, has his own car! Where did the time go?

That brings me to the mixed emotions part. Admittedly, I have been obsessing over the blogs! I viewed a hundred blogs (ok, maybe not a hundred, but pretty darn close) trying to gauge how long other families have waited or been waiting for their travel notice and then applying those calculations to our situation. It feels like we have been waiting an eternity for that darn travel notice and if I have to wait one more day, I just might crawl out of my skin!

So, keeping in mind that our oldest son has gone from little boy to 16 year-old, young man in the blink of an eye, I have resolved myself (or at least am going to try) that the travel notice WILL come and that until it does, to enjoy the time I have with my boys, husband and family and STEP AWAY FROM THE BLOGS!

The next few days promise to be filled with activities as my brother is getting married on Friday, so we have family flying in from out of town, rehearsal dinner, the wedding and then a big party for Dustin and his best friend's 16th birthday. Hopefully, these will all keep me pre-occupied and next time you hear from me, it will be to announce that our travel notice has arrived . . .stay tuned!

If I Could Talk, Here's What I'd Say

Today was a good day, actually no, it was a great day. I didn't obsess too much over our travel notice and only checked our adoption agency's website and the China "blogs" once today. Then I received an e-mail from Ann with Red Thread China, confirming that Dani and her foster family received our care package. I am hopeful that they are enjoying their moon cakes and showing Dani the photo album of her Mommy, Daddy, and brothers who are patiently (ok well not patiently) waiting for her. I hope that when the time does come that she recognizes us even a little bit and the whole experience is a little less scary for her. Then I received another e-mail from my Auntie Hazel in Honolulu titled "If I Could Talk, Here's What I'd Say". As I was reading this at work, I found myself yet again in tears, but they were happy tears and I am so blessed to have a woman like Auntie Hazel in my life. Though we rarely get to see her, she is, as Chris put it "an amazing woman". With her permission, I have posted her e-mail below . . . enjoy!

Dear Mommy...I know that you are just as anxious as I am to meet. I can hardly wait! I long for someone to really call me their own little girl, and when I found out that a very special family will allow me to be their daughter & sister, I was overjoyed. I will even have a set of grannys & grandpas too! How cool is that? I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I hope you and Daddy (am trying to get used to these loving words) will get a lot of rest, because when I arrive, I will need a lot of special care. It's not that I want to burden you, but there will be a big adjustment period for me seeing new people, hearing new voices & even getting accustomed to a beautifully decorated pink room. So if I turn out to be a little cry baby, please understand and bear with me. I will be so awed that I will not want to close my eyes for fear that it will all disappear! I am so looking forward to a new life and am so grateful to you, Mommy, and Daddy for giving someone like me a chance in a wonderful new world . I never thought anyone would want me with my defective lip, but even that will be corrected, all thanks to you. Will I ever be able to repay the love you are already sending to me? I CAN HARDLY WAIT! God is good. He sent you to me. I love you, I love you, I love you.
Your daughter Dani. Someone referred to me as a dumpling, and you
know what? I think I do look like a little Chinese dumpling.

Dani's Room

The room is not 100% done, but it's pretty close, so I thought I would post a few of the pictures. The infamous chandelier and ceiling fan should be here by Wednesday and I am stll in need of a chair and some artwork for the walls . .all in due time. For now I am just happy to have pink room in the house!

Why Sleep is Evading Me . . .

I have finally figured out why sleep is evading me and more recently, why I am running to the bathroom every 10 minutes . . . . here is a typical night inside my head:

I wonder what Dani is doing right now?
When is our Travel Notice going to arrive?
Are the travel notices mailed or sent electronically?
What else do we need to pack?
Should I take a backpack and a carry on?
Where can I get a converter?
I wonder if I should get the flu shot?
I wonder if Dani will cry when she is handed to us?
Who’s going to hold Dani first, Chris or me?
Who is going to video?
Does Chris know how to use the video feature on our camera?
I wonder what Dani is doing right now?
I hope the boys will be ok while we are gone
I hope my Mom will be ok
I need to finish the spreadsheet of the boys schedule
I need to start cooking meals for while we are away
I need to make a master calendar for the boys activities
I wonder if Dani will like Duke and Roxy?
I wonder if Duke and Roxy will like Dani?
I wonder if Karen will be able to come out?
I need to go get Dustin shoes for the wedding
I need to go get Dylan shoes for the wedding
I need to make a list of what I need for Allison’s shower
I need to wash the dogs before the shower
I need to clean the house
I need to order Dustin’s cake
I wonder what Dani is doing right now?
I need to get the drinks for Dustin’s party
I need to be sure Dylan finishes his book report before we go
I need to make flash cards for Dylan
Has Dustin bought his Homecoming ticket?
What is Dustin going to where for Homecoming?
I wonder if we will be here for Homecoming?
I wonder what Dani is doing right now?
I need to get a book on baby signs
I wonder if the clothes and shoes I packed will fit Dani?
I need to go buy Dani more white socks
I wonder if there will be an H1N1 outbreak before we go?
When is our Travel Notice going to arrive?
I wonder if we will be able to use our miles to upgrade to business class?
I wonder when I'm going to fall asleep?
If I fall asleep now, how many hours will I get?
I wonder what Dani is doing right now?

Showered with Love

This past weekend our friends and family gathered and threw a baby shower for myself and baby Dani. It's been 16 years since my last baby shower and it was wonderful and surreal at the same time. There are moments when I feel like all of this is "pretend" and that we are painting the room and buying all these cute, pink clothes just because. Having everyone gathered together in celebration of bringing our daughter home made it feel more real. It is difficult to put into words how appreciative Chris and I are for the outpouring of love, support and of course those great gifts. Adding a daughter to our family was something we wanted to do and to see our family and friends as excited as we are, truly touches our hearts. We are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives and hope you all know how much you mean to us.






I wanted to say a special thanks to my good friend Kim for planning and organizing the shower. She, like many of us has a crazy busy life and the fact that she took on yet another task in the midst of a wedding and flying out of town means so much to me. Thanks also to Renee for helping out and Arles for not only a beautiful cake, but delicious too! Thank you also to my Mom and Allison for bringing yummy food as well.